Method and system for performing multi-level program guide category searches

ABSTRACT

A method and system for performing multi-level searches includes a user device and a display associated with the user device. A guide system receives a content provider category for a first content and receives a global guide category different than the content provider category for the first content. A communication network communicates the global guide category and the provider category to the user device. The user device performs a global search and displays on the display the first content in response to the global guide category and displays on the display a provider homepage with the first content displayed under the content provider category.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a content processing and deliverysystem and, more specifically, to a system for coordinating content,content data and forming programming guide and menu structures inresponse thereto.

BACKGROUND

The statements in this section merely provide background informationrelated to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.

Satellite television has become increasingly popular due to the widevariety of content and the quality of content available. A satellitetelevision system typically includes a set top box that is used toreceive the satellite signals and decode the satellite signals for useon a television. The set top box typically has a memory associatedtherewith. The memory may include a digital video recorder or the likeas well as the operating code for the set top box.

Satellite television systems typically broadcast content to a number ofusers simultaneously in a system. Satellite television systems alsooffer subscription or pay-per-view access to broadcast content. Accessis provided using signals broadcast over the satellite. Once access isprovided the user can access the particular content. The broadcasting ofa large selection of channels and pay-per-view programs uses aconsiderable amount of satellite resources.

Content providers are increasingly trying to determine additional waysto provide content to users. Communicating the content keeping track ofthe available content must be performed.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure allows files and data associated with the filesto be easily managed within the system. The present disclosure alsoallows the various users to be informed of the various contentavailable.

In one aspect of the disclosure, a method includes providing a contentprovider category for a first content, providing a global guide categorydifferent than the content provider category for the first content,performing a global search, displaying the first content in response tothe global guide category and displaying a provider homepage with thefirst content displayed under the content provider category.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, a system includes a user deviceand a display associated with the user device. A content processingsystem receives a content provider category for a first content andreceives a global guide category different than the content providercategory for the first content. A communication network communicates theglobal guide category and the provider category to the user device. Theuser device performs a global search and displays on the display thefirst content in response to the global guide category and displays onthe display a provider homepage with the first content displayed underthe content provider category.

Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the descriptionprovided herein. It should be understood that the description andspecific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and arenot intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

DRAWINGS

The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and arenot intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a communication system accordingto the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a detailed block diagrammatic view of the content processingsystem of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a detailed block diagrammatic view of the fixed user device ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for linking content andcontent-associated information.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method for establishing a guide structure.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method for navigating menus and submenus.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a method for displaying at least two differenttypes of menu structures.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a detailed method for generating and using ahome page.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a method for processing row-ad graphics.

FIG. 10 is a block diagrammatic view of a method for utilizing home pagepackages and coordinating content thereto.

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of a screen display for a home page.

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of a screen display illustrating variouscategories for selection in a content processing system generated homepage.

FIG. 13 is a schematic view of a screen shot illustrating variousposters.

FIG. 14 is a schematic view of a screen shot illustrating a row adaccording to the present disclosure.

FIGS. 15A and 15B are screen displays of two different menu structures.

FIG. 16 is a block diagrammatic view of a program guide architecture.

FIG. 17 is a method of forming a program guide.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is notintended to limit the present disclosure, application, or uses. Forpurposes of clarity, the same reference numbers will be used in thedrawings to identify similar elements. As used herein, the term modulerefers to an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), anelectronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and memorythat execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinationallogic circuit, and/or other suitable components that provide thedescribed functionality. As used herein, the phrase at least one of A,B, and C should be construed to mean a logical (A or B or C), using anon-exclusive logical OR. It should be understood that steps within amethod may be executed in different order without altering theprinciples of the present disclosure.

The following system is described with respect to a satellite system anda broadband system. The broadband distribution system may be implementedin a terrestrial system such as cable or telephone-type system. Anoptical fiber may also be used in the broadband system. Wirelessdistribution may also be used in the broadband distribution system.

While the following disclosure is made with respect to example DIRECTV®broadcast services and systems, it should be understood that many otherdelivery systems are readily applicable to disclosed systems andmethods. Such systems include other wireless distribution systems, wiredor cable distribution systems, cable television distribution systems,Ultra High Frequency (UHF)/Very High Frequency (VHF) radio frequencysystems or other terrestrial broadcast systems (e.g., Multi-channelMulti-point Distribution System (MMDS), Local Multi-point DistributionSystem (LMDS), etc.), Internet-based distribution systems, cellulardistribution systems, power-line broadcast systems, any point-to-pointand/or multicast Internet Protocol (IP) delivery network, and fiberoptic networks. Further, the different functions collectively allocatedamong a head end (HE), integrated receiver/decoders (IRDs) and a contentdelivery network (CDN) as described below can be reallocated as desiredwithout departing from the intended scope of the present patent.

Further, while the following disclosure is made with respect to thedelivery of video (e.g., television (TV), movies, music videos, etc.),it should be understood that the systems and methods disclosed hereincould also be used for delivery of any media content type, for example,audio, music, data files, web pages, etc. Additionally, throughout thisdisclosure reference is made to data, information, programs, movies,assets, video data, etc., however, it will be readily apparent topersons of ordinary skill in the art that these terms are substantiallyequivalent in reference to the example systems and/or methods disclosedherein. As used herein, the term title will be used to refer to, forexample, a movie itself and not the name of the movie.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a communication system 100 includes a contentprocessing system 102 that is used as a processing and transmissionsource, a plurality of content providers, one of which is shown atreference numeral 104 and a first satellite 106. A second satellite 108may also be incorporated into the system. The satellites 106, 108 may beused to communicate different types of information or different portionsof various contents from the content processing system 102. The system100 also includes a plurality of fixed user devices 110 such asintegrated receiver/decoders (IRDs) or set-top box. Wirelesscommunications are exchanged between the content processing system 102and the fixed user devices 110 through one or more of the satellites106, 108. The wireless communications may take place at any suitablefrequency, such as, for example, Ka band and/or Ku-band frequencies.

A mobile user device 112 may also be incorporated into the system. Themobile user device 112 may include, but is not limited to, a cell phone114, a personal digital assistant 116, a portable media player 118, alaptop computer 120, or a vehicle-based device 122. It should be notedthat several mobile devices 112 and several fixed user devices 110 maybe used in the communication system 100. The mobile devices 112 may eachhave a separate antenna generally represented by antenna 124.

In addition to communication via the satellites 106, 108, various typesof information such as security information, encryption-decryptioninformation, content, or content portions may be communicatedterrestrially. A communication network 132 such as the public switchedtelephone network (PSTN), a terrestrial wireless system, stratosphericplatform, an optical fiber, or the like may be used to terrestriallycommunicate with the fixed user device 110 or the mobile user device112. To illustrate the terrestrial wireless capability an antenna 134 isillustrated for wireless terrestrial communication to the mobile userdevice 112.

Information or content provided to content processing system 102 fromthe media source 104 may be transmitted, for example, via an uplinkantenna 138 to the satellite(s) 106, 108, one or more of which may be ageosynchronous or geo-stationary satellite, that, in turn, rebroadcastthe information over broad geographical areas on the earth that includethe user devices 110, 112. The satellites may have inter-satellite linksas well. Among other things, the example content processing system 102of FIG. 1 provides program material to the user devices 110, 112 andcoordinates with the user devices 110, 112 to offer subscriberspay-per-view (PPV) program services and broadband services, includingbilling and associated decryption of video programs. Non-PPV (e.g. freeor subscription) programming may also be received. To receive theinformation rebroadcast by satellites 106, 108, each for user device 110is communicatively coupled to a receiver or downlink antenna 140.

Security of assets broadcast via the satellites 106, 108 may beestablished by applying encryption and decryption to assets or contentduring content processing and/or during broadcast (i.e., broadcastencryption). For example, an asset can be encrypted based upon a controlword (CW) known to the content processing system 102 and known to theuser devices 110, 112 authorized to view and/or playback the asset. Inthe illustrated example communication system 100, for each asset thecontent processing system 102 generates a control word packet (CWP) thatincludes, among other things, a time stamp, authorization requirementsand an input value and then determines the control word (CW) for theasset by computing a cryptographic hash of the contents of the CWP. TheCWP is also broadcast to the user devices 110, 112 via the satellites106, 108. The user devices authorized to view and/or playback thebroadcast encrypted asset will be able to correctly determine the CW bycomputing a cryptographic hash of the contents of the received CWP. Ifthe user device 110 is not authorized, the IRD 110 will not be able todetermine the correct CW that enables decryption of the receivedbroadcast encrypted asset. The CW may be changed periodically (e.g.,every 30 seconds) by generating and broadcasting a new CWP. In anexample, a new CWP is generated by updating the timestamp included ineach CWP. Alternatively, a CWP could directly convey a CW either inencrypted or unencrypted form. Other examples of coordinated encryptionand decryption abound, including for example, public/private keyencryption and decryption.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the content processing system 102 of FIG. 1 isillustrated in further detail. The content provider 104 may includevarious types of content providers, including those that provide contentby way of a satellite 200, digital versatile disc (DVD) 202, via anetwork as a file in 204, by way of tapes and other means. The contentprovider 104 may also provide graphics, content description, and othermetadata 208 to the system.

The content providers 104 may be various types of content providers andprovide various types of content including advertising content such asrow advertising (ads) is further described below. The content providersmay provide various types of information including advertisinginformation. Advertising providers may provide information on variousproducts or various available or future content. It should be noted thatthe advertising provider and the content provider may be one and thesame.

Information as to row ads may be provided by a content provider or anadvertising provider. The row ads are ads that form a row or can take upa row or partial row in the program guide. Information received from thevarious providers may include various types of metadata, graphics, andthe like. The metadata may also include location data as to where therow ad may fit as well as links to posters, asset or materialidentifications and various other links. Links provide a path to variousother information. Links may also cause an action to be performed, suchas tuning to a particular channel. The specifics of this will bedescribed below.

The row ad metadata may include provider information that includes anidentifier for identifying the content provided from the provider. Aproduct identifier may also be included in the row ad metadata. An assetname stream may also be used to identify the asset. Major versionnumbers and minor version numbers may also be provided for the row adcontent. A short description of the content may also be provided in themetadata. The creation date identifying the creation date of the contentor row ad may also be provided in the metadata. A provider ID may alsobe formed. The provider ID may be various types of identification,including an internet domain name. An asset ID may be provided by theprovider to identify the asset. A unique portable or materialidentification of the asset may be a combination of the provider ID andthe asset identification. The material ID will be further describedbelow in reference to the content management system which uses thematerial identification for various assets, including row ads. An assetclass may also be assigned to the system. A verb may also be formed inthe metadata. Verbs may include commands such as empty string anddelete.

A link type may also be provided in the metadata that is used toidentify a title of the asset, a channel or a home page to which the rowad will link. The link type will also be described further below.

A link asset ID may also be included in the metadata. The link asset IDidentifies the link from the row ad to the asset ID of the title asset.If the link is to a channel or home page, this metadata may not beincluded.

Rollover text metadata may also be included in the system. The rollovertext may appear when the particular row ad is highlighted by the userdevice. This string may include a phrase or other textual communication.

A text-only ad field may also be included in the metadata. A text-onlyad includes merely a string of characters to be displayed. A text-onlyad font may be used to change the font of the text-only ad. Varioustypes of fonts, such as those commonly available in word processors, maybe used. This may give the row ad a different look than the remainingportions of the program guide.

Content providers may also have a home page within the present system.Briefly, the home page is a portion of the program guide for selectingcontent to be downloaded to the user device. The system operator mayalso have its own home page that has various categories of content. Thecategories and types of home pages will be described below.

The home page may be formed in various configurations including a menustructure. The content providers may also provide various metadata forthe menu structure or program guide.

Each provider may also have a home page within the system from which auser device may be used to select and navigate through the menu.Ultimately, a selection may be made and communicated from the userdevice back to the content distribution network (CDN), whereby the CDNprovides the content to the user device. Content metadata used foridentification may also be provided relative to the home page, and linkthe content to one or more home pages. The provider, product, assetname, version major, version minor, description, creation date, providerID, asset ID, asset class and verb, as described above with respect tothe row ad, may also be provided in the home page metadata. In addition,a home page construction type may be provided in the metadata. Forexample, the home construction type may use the wording “complete” torefer to images of posters, background and other information. The string“background” may only provide a particular background scene upon whichgraphics and other data is placed. The background and various aspects ofthe home page will be described below.

The metadata for the home page may also include a home constructtemplate that represents a template number that may be filled in by thevarious content providers. The operator of the content processing systemmay establish various home page templates for which various informationmay be provided by the content providers to fill in the home page.Various categories and the like may be filled in by the contentproviders within the various parameters of the various templates. Thisportion of the metadata may be used to identify the pre-made templates.

A poster art position metadata may also be provided by the contentprovider. Various poster positions, as will be described below, may beestablished by the content processing system. As will be describedbelow, the posters may be used in a “complete” home page constructiontype. The poster position identifies the poster art position and mayinclude a variable to identify the template number and a number toidentify the template and a number to identify the poster position.

A poster art position tab text may identify a tab text associated withthe poster art position. One number associated with this metadata mayinclude the template number and another number may identify the posterposition. The value may be a string that is displayed at a certainposition somewhere around or underneath the poster.

A promotional (promo) area title may also be included in the metadata.The promotion area title may specify the title to be shown in the promoarea of the home page. The promotional area may be an area definedwithin the template. This may also be set forth only in a complete.

The promotional area body may provide certain amount of characters orlines below the title in the promotional area of the home page. Theremay be one or several promotional areas within a home page.

A home page display start and a display end metadata field may also beprovided. This may provide a start time and end time for displaying thefields. The start time and end time may correspond to the local time ofthe particular user device. That is, based upon the display start timeand display end time and the local clock, the display may be changedaccordingly.

A program type may correspond to a guide category established for thesystem provider. The guide category may be a global category establishedfor use of on-demand programming and linear programming. Global categorymeans the category may apply to many or all of the content from thecontent providers.

A content provider category may also be established. The contentprovider category and category structure may be determined by thecontent provider for use in building home pages and categorizing contentwithin those categories. The content provider categories may bedifferent than the guide category.

Another area of the content processing system 102 is an input server 212that receives the various content and converts the format in a formatconversion system 214. A house format asset storage server 216 may beused to store the content asset in a house format. Still image files,trailers, and other information may also be stored in the house formatasset storage server. A workflow management system 220 is used tocontrol the format conversion system 214 and the server 212. Also, theworkflow management system 220 is coupled to the house format assetstorage server 216 and performs ingest control. The house format assetstorage server 216 provides still images to a content management system221 and house format file, video and audio files to the video transportprocessing system 223.

The VTPS 223 may encode the packets containing the content. The encodermay encode the data into various transport formats such as DIRECTV®proprietary formats, or industry standard formats. The encoded data isthen packetized into a stream of data packets by a packetizer 270 thatalso attaches a header to each data packet to facilitate identificationof the contents of the data packet such as, for example, a sequencenumber that identifies each data packet's location within the stream ofdata packets (i.e., a bitstream). The header also includes a programidentifier (PID) (e.g., a service channel identifier (SCID)) thatidentifies the program to which the data packet belongs.

The stream of data packets (i.e., a bitstream) is then broadcastencrypted by, for example, the well-known Advanced Encryption Standard(AES) or the well-known Data Encryption Standard (DES). In an example,only the payload portion of the data packets are encrypted therebyallowing a user device 110 to filter, route and/or sort receivedbroadcast encrypted data packets without having to first decrypt theencrypted data packets.

The content management system 221 generally controls the overallmovement and distribution of contents through the content processingsystem 102. The content management 221 may also assign materialidentifications to the various received content. The materialidentification may utilize the asset identifier (ID) in the metadata aswell as the provider ID. Content, posters and other received informationmay be assigned related material identifications to make them easier toassociate and retrieve. For example, different suffixes may be used toidentify related content with the remainder of the materialidentification being the same.

A licensing and contract information 222 and ads from ad sales 224 maybe provided to the content management system 221. That is, licensinginformation, tier assignments, pricing and availability may be providedto the content management system. Asset information, file names anddurations may be exchanged between the content management system 221 andthe workflow management system 220. The asset information, such as filenames and durations, may be determined at the server 212 that is coupledto the workflow management system 220.

The Content Management System (CMS) 221 in combination with the SPS(230) is used to provide the requested channel, program associated data(PAD), channel information and program information packets (PIPs). TheCMS 221 may schedule content processing for a plurality of receivedassets based on a desired program lineup to be offered by thecommunication system 100. For example, a live TV program for which ahigh demand for reruns might be expected could be assigned a highpriority for content processing.

A schedule PAD server (SPS) 230 may be coupled to the CMS and is used togenerate a broadband video PAD that is communicated to a conditionalaccess system for broadband video 232. The conditional access system forbroadband video 232 may be used to generate control words and controlword packet in pairs and provide those to the video transport processingsystem 223.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 2, users of the user devices 110 (ofFIG. 1) are charged for subscription services and/or asset downloads(e.g., PPV TV) and, thus, the content processing system 102 includes abilling system 234 to track and/or bill subscribers for servicesprovided by the system 100. For example, the billing system 234 recordsthat a user has been authorized to download a movie and once the moviehas been successfully downloaded the user is billed for the movie.Alternatively, the user may not be billed unless the movie has beenviewed.

A billing system 234 receives pricing and availability information fromthe content management system 221. A conditional access system 236receives callback information from the communication network 132. Theconditional access system may be used to generate authorizations,pay-per-view billing data, and callback data from the billing system234. Remote record requests may also be provided from the conditionalaccess transaction system 238. A conditional access system BCC 240 maybe used to generate a conditional access packet from the informationfrom the conditional access system 236.

The billing system 234 may generate purchase data that is provided tothe enterprise integration (EI) block 242. The enterprise integrationblock 242 may generate remote record requests to the conditional accesstransaction system 238. Remote record requests may be generated througha web interface such as DIRECTV.com® in block 244. Various orderinginformation, such as ordering broadband video, pay-per-view, and variousservices may be received at the web interface 244. Various trailers mayalso be accessed by the users through the web interface 244 providedfrom the house format asset storage server 216. Enterprise integrationblock 242 may also receive guide information and metadata from thecontent management system 221.

Titles, description, various categories and metadata from the contentmanagement system 221 may be provided to the advanced program guidesystem 248. The program guide system 248 may be coupled to a satellitebroadcasting system such as a broadcast transport processing system 250that broadcasts content to the users through the satellite 106, 108.

The program guide data generated by the program guide system 248 mayinclude information that is used to generate a display of guideinformation to the user, wherein the program guide may be a grid guideand informs the user of particular programs that are broadcast onparticular channels at particular times. A program guide may alsoinclude information that a user device uses to assemble programming fordisplay to a user. For example, the program guide may be used to tune toa channel on which a particular program is offered. The program guidemay also contain information for tuning, demodulating, demultiplexing,decrypting, depacketizing, or decoding selected programs.

Content files may also be provided from the content management system221 to the content distribution system 260.

Referring back to the video transport processing system 223, the videotransport processing system 223 includes a transport packaging system270. The transport processing system 270 creates pre-packetizedunencrypted files. An encryption module 272 receives the output of thetransport processing system and encrypts the packets. Fully packaged andencrypted files may also be stored in the content repository 274.Encryption may take place in the data portion of a packet and not theheader portion.

One or more content delivery networks 280 a-n may be used to providecontent files such as encrypted or unencrypted and packetized files tothe communication network 132 for distribution to the user devices 110,112. The content distribution system 260 may make requests for deliveryof the various content files and assets through the communicationnetwork 132. The content distribution system 260 also generatessatellite requests and broadcasts various content and assets through thebroadcast transport processing system 250.

The communication network 132 may be the Internet 122 which is amultiple-point-to-multiple-point communication network. However, personsof ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that point-to-pointcommunications may also be provided through the communication network132. For example, downloads of a particular content file from a contentdelivery network may be communicated to a particular user device. Suchfile transfers and/or file transfer protocols are widely recognized aspoint-to-point communications or point-to-point communication signalsand/or create point-to-point communication paths, even if transportedvia a multi-point-to-multi-point communication network such as theInternet. It will be further recognized that the communication network132 may be used to implement any variety of broadcast system where abroadcast transmitter may transmit any variety of data or data packetsto any number of or a variety of clients or receivers simultaneously.Moreover, the communication network 132 may be used to simultaneouslyprovide broadcast and point-to-point communications and/orpoint-to-point communication signals from a number of broadcasttransmitters or content delivery networks 280.

The content delivery network 280 may be implemented using a variety oftechniques or devices. For instance, a plurality of Linux-based serverswith fiber optic connections may be used. Each of the content deliverynetworks 280 may include servers that are connected to the Internet orthe communication network 132. This allows the user devices to downloadinformation or content (example, a movie) from the content deliverynetwork 280. The content delivery network 280 may act as a cache for theinformation provided from the content repository 274. A particular userdevice may be directed to a particular content delivery network 280depending on the specific content to be retrieved. An Internet uniformresource locator (URL) may be assigned to a movie or other content.Further, should one of the delivery networks 280 have heavy traffic, thecontent delivery network may be changed to provide faster service. Inthe interest of clarity and ease of understanding, throughout thisdisclosure reference will be made to delivering, downloading,transferring and/or receiving information, video, data, etc. by way ofthe content delivery network 280. However, persons of ordinary skill inthe art will readily appreciate that information is actually delivered,downloaded, transferred, or received by one of the Internet-basedservers in or associated with the content delivery network 280.

It should be appreciated that the content delivery network 280 may beoperated by an external vendor. That is, the operator of the contentdelivery network 280 may not be the same as the operator of theremaining portions of the content processing system 102. To downloadfiles from the content delivery network 280, user devices 110, 112 mayimplement an Internet protocol stack with a defined application layerand possibly a download application provided by a content deliverynetwork provider. In the illustrated example, file transfers areimplemented using standard Internet protocols (file transfer protocolFTP), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), etc. Each file received by theuser device may be checked for completeness and integrity and if a fileis not intact, missing, and/or damaged portions of the files may bedelivered or downloaded again. Alternatively, the entire file may bepurged from the user device 110 and delivered or downloaded again.

The broadcast transport processing system 250 may provide variousfunctions, including packetizing, multiplexing and modulating, anduplink frequency conversion. RF amplification may also be provided inthe broadcast transport processing system 250.

Wireless delivery via the satellites 106, 108 may simultaneously includeboth files (e.g., movies, pre-recorded TV shows, games, softwareupdates, program guide information or asset files, menus structuresetc.) and/or live content, data, programs and/or information. Wirelessdelivery via the satellites 106, 108 offers the opportunity to deliver,for example, a number of titles (e.g., movies, pre-recorded TV shows,etc.) to virtually any number of customers with a single broadcast.However, because of the limited channel capacity of the satellites 106,108, the number of titles (i.e., assets) that can be provided during aparticular time period is restricted.

In contrast, Internet-based delivery via the CDN 280 can support a largenumber of titles, each of which may have a narrower target audience.Further, Internet-based delivery is point-to-point (e.g., from anInternet-based content server to a user device 110, 112) therebyallowing each user of the user device 110, 112 to individually selecttitles. Allocation of a title to satellite and/or Internet-baseddelivery or content depends upon a target audience size and may beadjusted over time. For instance, a title having high demand (i.e.,large initial audience) may initially be broadcast via the satellites106, 108, then, over time, the title may be made available for downloadvia the CDN 280 when the size of the target audience or the demand forthe title is smaller. A title may simultaneously be broadcast via thesatellites 106, 108 and be made available for download from the CDN 280via the communication network 132.

In the example communication system 100, each asset (e.g., program,title, content, game, TV program, etc.) is pre-packetized and,optionally, pre-encrypted and then stored as a data file (i.e., an assetfile). Subsequently, the asset file may be broadcast via the satellites106, 108 and/or sent to the CDN 280 for download via the CDN 280 (i.e.,Internet-based delivery). In particular, if the data file is broadcastvia the satellites 106, 108, the data file forms at least one payload ofa resultant satellite signal. Likewise, if the data file is availablefor download via the CDN 280, the data file forms at least one payloadof a resultant Internet signal.

It will be readily apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art thateven though at least one payload of a resultant signal includes the datafile regardless of broadcast technique (e.g., satellite or Internet),how the file is physically transmitted may differ. In particular,transmission of data via a transmission medium (e.g., satellite,Internet, etc.) comprises operations that are: (a) transmission mediumindependent and b) transmission medium dependent. For example,transmission protocols (e.g., transmission control protocol/Internetprotocol (TCP/IP), user datagram protocol (UDP), encapsulation, etc.)and/or modulation techniques (e.g., quadrature amplitude modulation(QAM), forward error correction (FEC), etc.) used to transmit a file viaInternet signals (e.g., over the Internet 122) may differ from thoseused via satellite (e.g., the satellites 106, 108). In other words,transmission protocols and/or modulation techniques are specific tophysical communication paths, that is, they are dependent upon thephysical media and/or transmission medium used to communicate the data.However, the content (e.g., a file representing a title) transported byany given transmission protocol and/or modulation is agnostic of thetransmission protocol and/or modulation, that is, the content istransmission medium independent.

The same pre-packetized and, optionally, pre-encrypted, content datafile that is broadcast via satellite may be available for download viaInternet, and how the asset is stored, decoded and/or played back by theuser devices 110 is independent of whether the program was received bythe user devices 110 via satellite or Internet. Further, because theexample content processing system 102 of FIG. 1 broadcasts a liveprogram and a non-live program (e.g., a movie) by applying the sameencoding, packetization, encryption, etc., how a program (live ornon-live) is stored, decoded and/or played back by the user devices 110is also independent of whether the program is live or not. Thus, userdevices 110, 112 may handle the processing of content, programs and/ortitles independent of the source(s) and/or type(s) of the content,programs and/or titles. In particular, example delivery configurationsand signal processing for the example content delivery system of FIG. 2are discussed in detail below.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the user device 110 may be one of any varietyof devices, for example, a set-top box, a home media server, a homemedia center (HMC), a personal computer (PC) having a receiver cardinstalled therein, etc. A display device 300 such as a television set, acomputer monitor, a portable media player or the like may be coupled tothe user device. The user device 110 may be an integrated receiverdecoder, a satellite television receiver or the like for displayingand/or playback of received programming.

The receive antenna 140 (124 on a mobile device) receives signalsconveying a modulated multiplexed bitstream from the satellites 106,108. Within the receive antenna 140, the signals are coupled from areflector and feed to a low-noise block (LNB) 302, which amplifies andfrequency downconverts the received signals. The LNB 302 output is thenprovided to a receiver 304, which receives, demodulates, depacketizes,demultiplexes, decrypts and decodes the received signal to provide audioand video signals to the display device 300 or a memory device 306, orboth. The memory device 306 may be implemented separately from or withinthe user device 110. The receiver 304 is responsive to user inputs to,for example, tune to a particular program.

To store received and/or recorded programs and/or assets, the memorydevice 306 may include any of a variety of or combination of storagedevices such as a hard disk drive, DVR, flash memory or other types ofmemory devices. The memory device 306 may be used to store the content,information, metadata, program guide objects and information and/orprograms received via the satellites 106, 108 and/or the CDN 280. Inparticular, the packets stored on memory device 306 may be the sameencoded and, optionally, encrypted packets created by the contentprocessing system 102 and transmitted via the satellites 106, 108 and/ormade available for download via the CDN 280.

The memory device 306 may also be a device capable of recordinginformation on, for instance, analog media such as videotape or computerreadable digital media such as a hard disk drive (HDD), a digitalversatile disc (DVD), a compact disc (CD) and/or any other suitablemedia.

To communicate with any of a variety of clients, media players, etc.,the illustrated example the user device 110 includes one or moreconnection interface modules 308 (e.g., USB, serial port, Firewire,etc.). The connection interface module 306 may act as a networkinterface that implements, for example, an Ethernet interface.

Each user device 110 may connect to the communication network such asthe Internet 122 via any of a variety of technologies, for instance, avoice-band and/or integrated services digital network (ISDN) modemconnected to a conventional PSTN, a wireless broadband connection (e.g.,IEEE 802.11b, 802.11g, etc.), a broadband wired connection (e.g., ADSL,cable modems, etc.), a wired Ethernet connection (e.g., local areanetwork (LAN), wide area network (WAN), etc.), a leased transmissionfacility (e.g., a digital signal level 1 circuit (a.k.a. a DS1), afractional-DS1, etc.), etc.

The user device 110 may also include a control module 310 that is usedto control the operation of the various components within the userdevice.

A user interface 312 may, for example, be a set of push buttons or aremote control interface. The user interface 312 is used to makeselections, input various data, and change the parameters of the userdevice 110. The user interface 312 may be used together with a graphicaluser interface displayed on the display device associated with the userdevice.

It should also be noted that the user devices 114 (device 110) may beconfigured in a similar manner to those illustrated in FIG. 3 throughreference number 110. Such devices may include an internal antennarather than an external dish-type antenna that is illustrated in thefixed device as 140. Also, external antennas are possible such as aphased array antenna.

The recording device 306 may also be partitioned into a networkpartition 320 and a user partition 322. Different types of content orassets may be stored in the network partition 320 or the user partition322. The content stored in the different partitions may relate to thetier of the content. This will be further described below.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a method of assigning material identificationsto various content and content-associated information is set forth. Instep 410, content is received from various content providers. Theproviders may provide a provider or asset identification (ID) for thecontent provided. Posters, trailers, graphics, metadata may also bereceived from content providers. The content and the othercontent-associated information may be received in different ways or thesame way. When received in different ways, they may be associatedtogether in the content processing system. In step 412, the contentproviders may also provide a home page package having the home pagegraphics, posters, links and metadata from the content provider. Thetypes of metadata that may be received from the content providers weredescribed above in FIG. 1.

In step 414, the material identification is assigned to the content andto the content-associated information. This step may be performed in thecontent management system of FIG. 2. Preferably the material ID and theassociated content information are linked together. As mentioned above,one way to link the content with the content-associated information isto provide a common material identification with various suffixes toidentify the various information.

Referring now to FIG. 5, the information received above may be used topopulate a guide or menu structure. In step 510, the content processingsystem establishes various guide structures. These may be referred to astemplates. The templates may correspond to the physical layout of thescreen display on the user device. In step 512, the guide information isreceived from content providers. The guide information may be receivedin various manners as described above. In step 514, the guideinformation is linked to the content. In step 516, the guide informationis communicated to the user device. The guide information may also bereferred to as objects. The guide information may be program guideinformation or separate menus that are reachable from the program guideinformation. Guide information may be continuously broadcast at varioustimes throughout the day so that the guide information may be updated.The guide information may be stored in the memory of the user device anddisplayed on request.

In step 518, the guide information is displayed in the associatedstructure using the particular template associated with the guideinformation. The guide information may also be in the form of a menustructure that also includes various templates. The guide informationmay be communicated in various ways, including through the terrestrialsystem, broadband communication system, satellite or the like. Thecontent information may also include the metadata as described above.The metadata may provide various ratings and the like for the particularcontent.

Referring now to FIG. 6, from the user device the various menus,sub-menus and program guide may be navigated using the user interfaceillustrated in FIG. 3. In step 612, once a particular menu with aparticular content selection is reached, a selection may be formed thatcorresponds to content. The selection may select a materialidentification that is received with the metadata. In step 614, thematerial ID associated with the selection is communicated to the contentprocessing system. The communication may take place using a terrestrialsystem such as a broadband system, a wireless broadband system, or othertypes of communication systems described above.

In step 616, the content associated with the material identification, iscommunicated to the set top box. In step 618, the content may be storedwithin the set top box. This step may also be an optional step. In step620, the content may be viewed from the memory device or directly as thecontent is received. It is envisioned that a commercial embodiment willstore the content as it is received. It is also envisioned that thecontent may be stored while the content is being played from thebeginning of the content file.

Referring now to FIG. 7, various menu structures may be established instep 710. In step 712, the content and content metadata from the contentproviders is received at various times throughout the day. The contentmay be received through a broadband connection or through a satelliteconnection. A satellite connection can intersperse the program data inand amongst various content. In step 714, a menu structure correspondingto a first content provider may be established. The first menu structuremay be populated with various categories received in the metadata fromthe various providers. The content processing system operator mayestablish various templates for home pages on a menu structure and themetadata received may be used to fill the various buttons and selectionstherein. In step 716, a second menu corresponding to multiple contentproviders may be established by the content processing system operator.The second menu structure may have general categories such as comedy,children's, history, home improvement, sports and news. The contentprovided from the content providers and the metadata associatedtherewith, may be parsed based upon the content and thus the menu may beused to provide information or menu structures to content from variousproviders. Information may be selected based upon the metadata. Somemetadata may allow various content to be excluded as well. For example,adult material may be excluded from being displayed. The exclusion ofvarious content may also be a user selection at the user device. Forexample, parental controls may allow adult material to be excluded fromdisplay on the second menu structure. In step 718, the first menustructure is populated with metadata, graphics and various othermaterial received from the content provider. In step 720, the secondmenu structure may be populated with content from multiple providersaccording to the content categories as mentioned above. In step 722, afirst menu or second menu may be selected using the user interface. Thevarious menu structures may be navigated with a cursor or cursorselection. Navigation between various menu structures may also beperformed. In step 724, the first or second menu may be displayed usingthe navigation buttons on the user device. Once a selection is desiredand selected, the operation of FIG. 6 may be performed.

Referring now to FIG. 8, a more detailed method for processing a homepage is illustrated. In step 810, the content provider or DIRECTV® whichis representative of a content processing system provider, sends videocontent and/or a home page package for processing. As mentioned above, ahome page may be provided by each content provider or by selectedcontent providers. A home page may also be provided by the contentprocessing system specific to the content processing system provider orusing information from multiple content providers. In step 812, thevideo content and metadata associated with the video content may be sentin an industry format such as the CableLabs® format. In step 814, thevideo content is processed and put into the DIRECTV®-compatible formatas is illustrated in FIG. 2. In step 816, the video content is sent tothe content distribution network which is then made available to thevarious customers. In step 818, the video content is made available tocustomers. The customers must be informed about the various content.Referring back to step 812, the metadata for the video content isprovided to the advance program guide system 248 of FIG. 2 in step 830.In step 832, the guide service sends a guide and home page graphics andlinks to the user device or set top box. In step 834, the satellitetransmits the satellite or other communication network, such as aterrestrial communication network, transmits the guide and home pagegraphics and links to the set top box or other user device. In step 836,the home page graphics are displayed on the set top box with theassociated info and links thereby. This allows the users to know what isavailable for download through the content processing system.

Referring back to step 810, home page graphics and associated metadatamay be received from the content provider or may be communicated fromthe overall system provider such as DIRECTV® in step 850. In step 850,if home page graphics, background, a complete or posters are provided,step 860 provides such information to the guide service so that it maybe communicated through the satellite or other communication means instep 832, 834 and 836.

In step 850, if metadata is provided, step 852 may parse the metadatafor linking information. Parsing the metadata for linking informationmay include various steps that are illustrated and boxes 854 through864. In step 854, the metadata may link all of the content from oneprovider to one or more specific home pages. In step 856, the metadatasent with the video content from a specific provider may be used tocreate the home page category button labels. These will be illustratedbelow. In step 856, the metadata may also be used to create the homepage title and subtext within the home page. In step 862, the metadatamay be used to link posters to video asset IDs or materialidentifications. In step 864, the metadata may be used to define theformat of the home page from various templates. As mentioned above,various templates may include home pages with various numbers of postersand menu selections. Some or all of the various types of metadata may beincluded within the home page package that is received from the contentprovider. Therefore, all or some of the steps 854 through 856 may beperformed. After steps 854 through 864, step 866 may be performed. Instep 866, the home page information links and associations are providedto the guide service that sends guide and home page graphics to thevarious user devices such as a set top box in step 832. Thereafter,steps 834 and 836 are performed as described above.

Referring now to FIG. 9, a method for processing row ads may beperformed. In step 910, row-ad graphics and associated metadata that isdescribed above may be received at the content processing system. Instep 912, the row-ad graphics may be provided to the program guideservice in step 914. The program guide service may send the guideinformation, row-ad graphics and links to the set top box or other userdevice. In step 916, the satellite or other communication transmits theinformation to the user device or the set top box. In step 918, therow-ad graphics are stored within the set top box and displayed with theassociated links. Step 920 may be performed after step 918. In step 920,the available home pages or channels may be reached from the various rowads. After step 918, step 922 may also be performed which generates auser interface screen such as help screens or menu screens. The row adsmay also link to available video content directly. That is, a materialidentification may be transmitted in response to selecting a row ad instep 924. In step 930, the guide information available on the satelliteand broadband content may be communicated to the guide service in step914 which then provides the information to the set top box through thesatellite.

Referring back to step 910, metadata may also be received in step 910.Step 940 may be performed after step 910 for the metadata. The metadatamay be parsed for linking information in much the same way as parsingwas performed in step 852 of FIG. 8. After step 940, steps 942 through950 may be performed. Some or all of steps 942 through 950 may beperformed depending on the various metadata received.

In step 942, the metadata may be used to link row ads to a specific homepage or channel. By the user selecting the row ad, a direct link may beprovided to the home page or channel. That is, the tuner may be directedto a specific channel or the user device may be directed to a specificmenu or home page within the program guide or menu structure.

In step 944, the metadata may link the row ad to a specific userinterface screen. In step 946, the metadata may be used to link the rowad to a specific satellite or broadband title. For example, a specificsatellite may be used for various channels or various information. Thetuner may thus be tuned to that specific satellite. By selecting aspecific broadband title, material identification may be communicatedback to the content processing system 102 of FIG. 1 and thus the contentmay be communicated to the user device.

In step 948, the metadata may link the row ad information to text andvarious graphics. The text and various graphics may be received at theuser device and stored in a memory in association with or not inassociation with a program guide. The text may provide variousinformation, such as a description of various content and/or variousgraphics and pictures associated with the content, or informational orhelp text.

In step 950, the metadata may define various formats of the row ad fromvarious templates. The content processing system provider may establishvarious templates for providing the row ads. The templates may providevarious positions, behavior, and areas for providing graphics selectionbuttons, and the like. As will be described below, the row ad may beplaced above, below or spaced apart from an associated channel.

After steps 942 through 950, step 960 may be performed. In step 960, therow ad information links and associations are provided to the guideservice of step 914. After step 914, steps 916 through 924 may beperformed as described above.

Referring now to FIG. 10, the various provider home pages and a contentsystem provider home page may be operated in various manners. Box 1010represents a provider home page package that may include home pagegraphics, posters, links and various metadata. The home page package isused to form the provider home page in box 1012. Box 1014 illustratesthe provider content package that may include content posters, trailersand various metadata that is associated with the content package. Itshould be noted that the metadata provided in box 1014 is different thanthe home page package metadata in step 1010. The provider contentpackage is provided to step 1016 that extracts the content titles fromthe provider broadband content and the provider content information. Theprovider content titles are provided to box 1012 that associates theprovider home page graphics, the provider broadband titles, the providerbroadband categories, the poster links to trailers, the links to programhome pages with searching for titles, watching trailers, browsingtitles, finding by browsing categories and adding titles to variousqueues for populating various menus in box 1012. The provider contenttitles may also be provided to an all-provider content titles box in1018. In step 1020, the DIRECTV® home page package may be generatedwithin the content processing system with various information associatedwith the DIRECTV® system. In step 1022, the direct home page graphics,broadband titles, DIRECTV® global categories, poster links to trailersand links to program home pages, may be associated with searching forvarious titles, watching various trailers, browsing titles, finding byglobal categories and adding titles to various queues within the variousmenus.

As can be seen by the contrast of boxes 1012 and 1022, the variousproviders may have a home page and the content processing system mayalso generate its own home page that is associated with various contentinformation.

Various provider home page templates may thus be used by the variousproviders. Various content and metadata from the first content providermay be provided to the content processing system. The first contentprovider may establish a home page with various categories, and thelike, associated therewith. The content and metadata may also be used bythe content processing system provider to populate a more global menufor selecting information from various content providers. Thus, at leasttwo different types of menu systems may be formed.

Referring now to FIG. 11, an example of a menu structure 1110 isillustrated. The menu structure may include a background 1112. Thebackground 112 may be a JPEG or other type of picture graphic that isprovided within the background. The background may also nearly be aspecific color, or the like. The menu structure may also include a logoarea 1114 for displaying the logo of a particular content provider. Acurrent channel or preview display 1116 may also be provided on the homepage. The current channel display 1116 may be used to display a currentchannel so that the current channel is not completely missed. If apreview is desired, the preview of a particular piece of content may beprovided in the current channel/preview display 1116, or a specialpreview display 1134. The special preview display may temporarilyreplace the promo area, title, and body 1130, 1132 while the preview isplaying. Various buttons corresponding to either categories or specificcontent may be provided at boxes 1118, 1120 and 1122. The menu structuremay include various categories illustrated by the wording ABC. If one ofthe boxes is selected by the user interface, additional menu structuresor various content may be provided. The boxes 1118 through 1122 may alsorepresent specific programming.

A promotional area title 1130 and a promotional area body 1132 may alsobe provided. Various numbers of promotional areas and promotional areabodies may be provided. As mentioned above in FIG. 1, the text for theseboxes may be provided in the metadata.

Referring now to FIG. 12, a general representation of a contentprocessing system provider home page 1210 is set forth. In thisembodiment, various categories such as a children's category box 1212, ahistory channel box 1214, a home improvement box 1216, a sports box 1218and a music box 1220 are set forth. Of course, various numbers ofcategories and types of categories may be provided in any particularsystem. By selecting a particular box, such as the children's boxillustrated by the bold outline, various children's titles may bedisplayed on the subsequent screen. Likewise, upon selection of one ofthe various other categories, other titles associated with a particularcategory may be provided. The categories may be set forth and generatedby the operator of the content processing system. Categories may beadded or removed. The metadata received from the various contentproviders may fall within a category. It should also be noted thatcategories may also be divided into sub-categories as well. Thus,sub-categories may be generated in the next menu structure.

Referring now to FIG. 13, one example of a home page 1310 isillustrated. The home page includes a background field 1312, a logo areafield 1314 and a poster area field 1316. As is illustrated, four posters1318A, 1318B, 1318C and 1318D are illustrated. A category area 1320 mayalso be provided so that content in that category may be listed uponselection. By selecting a poster, a trailer or the content itself may beselected for viewing by the user device. Selection may generate acommunication to the content processing system for a particular content.Various numbers of posters may be established by various templatesprovided by the content processing system provider.

Referring now to FIG. 14, an example of a program guide 1410 isillustrated. The program guide 1410 includes a preview orcurrent-channel screen 1412, a logo area 1414 and a row ad 1420. The rowad 1420 may be selected by moving a cursor or other selection indicatorwith the user interface. The row ad 1420 may take a particular form,including various types of graphics and various types of links that maybe associated with the row ad. The links may directly be associated witha material ID for directly ordering the particular content. The linksmay also time the tuner to a particular linear or broadband channel.Further, various types of graphics, menu pages and menu structures maybe associated with the row ad and may be selected when desired. Otherrows 1430, 1432, 1434 and 1436 may be used to generate the remainingportion of the program guide. That is, the program objects received bythe system may be used to generate the remaining program guideinformation. Row ads may be directed to appear at various positions. Forexample, row ads may be placed directly adjacent to a particular channellisting or a particular type of listing within the program guide. Thatis, the row ad may be directly adjacent to an associated channel, eitherdirectly above or directly below. The row ad may also be offset from aparticular channel. For example, the row ad may be placed three rowsabove or below a particular channel. The row ad may, therefore, berelated to the program guide. Other information may also be displayed inthe program guide, such as channel information 1440 and time information1442.

Referring now to FIG. 15A, both the content provider and the channelprovider may provide different menu screens. In FIG. 15A, variousinformation including a content provider logo that represents theprovider of the overall system may be illustrated. The content providerlogo may be provided in box 1510. A menu display 1512 may displayvarious menu selections including a first menu selection which isillustrated as “Bob in Concert” that is displayed on Channel X. Variousother menu items are illustrated below that for channel X. These menuitems may be displayed in response to selecting the “Music” box 1220 ofFIG. 12. The menu 1512 includes music selections from various channels.

Referring now to FIG. 15B, the menu structure for channel X isillustrated. Channel X may have a channel X logo area 1530 that alsoincludes the selection “Bob in Concert” illustrated by menu item 1532.This menu may be reached by the menu display of FIG. 13. By selectingone of the categories corresponding to the genre of “Bob in Concert,”Bob in Concert and other items such as a music video 1534 may also beillustrated in the menu structure.

In both FIGS. 15A and 15B, the menu structures are formed from variouscontent metadata that are received. The menu structures are establishedfrom various templates that are provided by the system provider. Thesystem provider provides the various templates to the channel providers,so that various information may be displayed corresponding to thevarious content categories. In FIG. 15A, various content from variouschannels may be provided for a particular selection. In FIG. 15B, onlythe menu items for that particular channel are displayed. Therefore, themenu structure illustrated in FIG. 15B is displayed without metadatafrom other channels or content providers. The menu structure in FIG. 15Aincludes metadata and menu selections from various channels. A userinterface such as a remote control may be used to select one of theselections such as “Bob in Concert.” The material ID associatedtherewith may be communicated to the content provider so that thecontent may be communicated to the user device.

Referring now to FIG. 16, a program guide data architecture 1610 isillustrated. The program guide data architecture may include a channelobject 1620, a program object 1630, a broadband home object 1640, abroadband catalog object 1650 and a category system object 1660. Theobjects 1620-1660 are formed at the content provider and communicated tothe user devices. The user devices form a program guide display basedupon data contained within the objects 1620-1660.

As will be further described below, content may be categorized invarious levels for search. For example, a content provider home page mayhave a first type of categorization. A second type of categorizationincludes a global search and a third categorization may take place atthe user device level or set top box level. At the user device level thesearch may return not only on-demand content but linear programming aswell. Linear programming includes broadcasted programming such assatellite broadcasted programming. Coordinating the various types ofsearches without unduly increasing the maintenance of the system isimportant. The program objects reside within the memory of the userdevice and thus it is not desirable to continually update or re-updatepreviously transmitted objects. Minimizing the amount of updates isdesirable. Also, several problems may arise when multi-levelcategorization may be attempted. Synchronization of programs with theircategories at the local level may be an issue. Merging the many types ofcategories from different providers may also be difficult. Coordinationwith linear programming may also be difficult.

In FIG. 16, the program guide data architecture 1610 includes thechannel object 1620. The channel object 1620 may be used to describeliterally a line in the program grid display for linear channels. Thechannel object 1620 may provide the tuning information for video, audio,etc. The transponder and other pertinent information may also beprovided in the channel object 1620 for linear channels. For on-demandtype content, the channel object may include placement and visibilitycontrols.

The program object 1630 may be used to describe individual programs. Theprogram objects may include material identifications, categoryidentifications, content identifications, program objectidentifications, category codes and season numbers.

The broadband home object 1640 may be used to describe the broadbandvideo home pages to the user device. The broadband home object 1640 mayinclude I-frame references to HTTP objects. These may include posterframes in an I-frame to allow unlimited colors or individual graphicsfor each frame. The broadband home object 1640 may also include a startand end time of the homepage, a global category, global hierarchy, acontent advisory rating and links to program content.

The broadband catalog object 1650 is used to convey provider categorylabel definitions for the content provider categories, hierarchy andreferences to the relevant program objects to the user device. Thebroadband catalog object 1650 includes an announcement time thatprovides a time that ordering information may be visible. A downloadavailability time and a download availability end time may also beprovided in the broadband catalog object. Copy guard information anddigital copy protection flags may also be provided in the broadbandcatalog object. Program Information Packets (PIPs) in the guide may alsobe provided by the broadband catalog object. A list of content providercategories may be stored in the broadband catalog object. The broadbandcatalog object 1650 may be linked to various program objects. As will befurther described below, when the provider content catalog and/orcategories change only the broadband catalog object needs to be changed.The global categories described above will remain relatively fixed andthus are not required to change.

The category system object 1660 may have the global categories therein.The global categories may change very little, if ever. Content searchesat the global and user device level may be performed under the globalcategories.

Referring now to FIG. 17, a method for processing and displaying contentis illustrated. In step 1718, the content processing system (102 ofFIG. 1) receives content and metadata having a content program categoryand a global guide category associated therewith. The content processingsystem also may receive and associate guide categories for linear titlesto be broadcast in step 1720. The guide categories for the linear titlesmay be received at the same time the linear titles are processed or theymay be received from a third-party service such as Tribune MediaServices®. It should be noted that both of the content programcategories and the global guide categories may also includesub-categories (the hierarchies) therein.

The various objects are formed within the program guide system 260 ofFIG. 2 in response to various information from the content managementsystem. This information may include the titles, description andcategories from the received metadata.

In step 1722, channel objects may be formed from the metadata. Asmentioned above, the channel object may include various types of datathat describe the line in the program grid guide. In step 1724, theprogram objects are formed using the global guide categories and variousother information described above. In step 1726, the broadband catalogobjects are formed. The broadband catalog objects may include variousinformation such as the content provider categories. In step 1728, thebroadband home objects may be formed.

In step 1730, the various objects formed as described above arecommunicated to the user device. If the user device is a set top box, asatellite, a terrestrial broadband network or a wireless broadbandnetwork may be used. For mobile devices, wireless networks may be used.In step 1732, a search mode may be entered.

In step 1734, a global or user device level search using the globalguide categories is performed. In step 1734, a global or set top boxtype search is performed with the following steps. In step 1736, theuser device obtains the global category labels from the category systemobject. In step 1738, the user device obtains the hierarchy from thebroadband home object. In step 1740, the user selects a category. Instep 1742, the user device searches for all content with thecorresponding content index corresponding to the category selected. Fora set top box search, the linear titles may also be searched. Asmentioned above, the linear titles may also be categorized using theglobal categories. In step 1744, the titles corresponding to theparticular index are displayed. The titles may be obtained from theprogram object.

Referring back to step 1732, a content provider or homepage providersearch may be performed in step 1760. In step 1762, theprovider-specific labels, the hierarchy and the references to programsmay be contained within the broadband category object.

In step 1764, a category is selected by the user from the user device.In step 1766, content is searched for within the category and categoryhierarchy. As mentioned above, the category and category hierarchies aredefined within the broadband category object. In step 1768, the varioustitles associated with the content may be displayed. In step 1770, theoptional step of changing content in content categories may beperformed. Also, the available content may be changed in step 1770. Thecontent categories and available content may be changed by simplychanging the broadband category object. It should be noted that in acontent provider-specific search, only content from that particularprovider will be provided. In a global search, content from variousproviders will be returned from the search.

As can be seen, the problem associated with the dynamic nature ofcontent provider categories has been reduced. By assigning the contentcategories within the broadband catalog object, the broadband catalogobject can be changed without changing other objects such as the programobject.

For global level searching, existing category codes in the program maybe used along with a configurable hierarchy using the same indices inthe broadband home object. The indices and the broadband home object maybe linked to the categories set forth in the broadband catalog object.This allows a different layout and different categories than the globalcategory. Because the global categories are permanently assigned, thereis no synchronization problem between the content provider level and theglobal level. Although there may be indexes within the broadbandcategory object, the self-contained nature of the broadband categoryobject does not lead to synchronization problems between the globalcategories and global indexes used when global searching. The broadbandcategory object at the provider level is separate from the categorysystem object and broadband home object at the global level. The globalcategories are relatively static while at the content provider thecategories may be dynamic. Flexibility is increased by having a requiredcategory for programs to be included in the content provider's homepage.It should also be noted that the global homepage may choose to displayonly a subset of the programming available in the on-demand portion. Oneexample is that only non-adult programming may be available at theglobal homepage level. Thus, adult content may be excluded from a globalhomepage search. For each homepage content, a global search may includeor exclude content based upon a category or categories. For example, aseparate sports, music or children's homepage with multiple content frommultiple content providers may be formed.

In step 1770, the content provider category or the available content maybe changed. The change may take place due to several conditions. When acontent arrives that has a new content category, the content categorymay be added to the broadband content object. When content is no longeravailable, thus the content has passed its availability end date, and noother programs in the content provider category are available, thecategory may be eliminated from the broadband content object. Thus, thebroadband content object may be continually updated with contentcategories that are ultimately linked to the broadband home object andto program objects. The content management system may be responsible forestablishing new content categories and thus maintaining the broadbandcatalog object.

After the various titles are displayed in steps 1744 and 1768 inresponse to the search results, a selection may be formed at the userdevice in step 1780. The selection may be communicated using the variouscommunication networks. This selection process is for on-demand typecontent. A material identification may be communicated to the contentprocessing system that corresponds to the selection. In response to thematerial ID, the content processing system may communicate correspondingcontent to the user device. For a linear title, the user device may betuned to the particular channel.

Those skilled in the art can now appreciate from the foregoingdescription that the broad teachings of the disclosure can beimplemented in a variety of forms. Therefore, while this disclosureincludes particular examples, the true scope of the disclosure shouldnot be so limited since other modifications will become apparent to theskilled practitioner upon a study of the drawings, the specification andthe following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: forming a broadband homeobject comprising homepage data and a homepage template withoutcategories therein; forming a first broadband category object comprisinga first plurality of content provider content category label definitionscorresponding to a first content provider to be used to populate thehomepage template, said first broadband category object different thanthe broadband home object; forming a second broadband category objectcomprising a second plurality of content provider content category labeldefinitions corresponding to a second content provider to be used topopulate the homepage template, said second broadband category objectdifferent than the broadband home object; providing, from the firstcontent provider, a first content provider category for a first contentthat is assigned by the first content provider, wherein said firstcontent comprises first programming content that is provided by thefirst content provider or a title associated with the first programmingcontent that will be provided by the content provider; forming acategory system object comprising a plurality of global guide categoriesdifferent than the first plurality of content provider content categorylabel definitions; communicating the broadband home object, the categorysystem object, the first broadband category object, and the secondbroadband category object to a user device; displaying a first contentprovider homepage at the user device based on the broadband home objectand the first broadband category object for only the first contentprovider; displaying a second content provider homepage at the userdevice based on the broadband home object and the second broadbandcategory object for only the second content provider; performing aglobal search using a first global guide category of the plurality ofglobal guide categories; displaying the first content from the firstcontent provider and a plurality of content corresponding to a pluralityof content providers other than the first content provider based onperforming the global search; performing a content provider search usingthe first content provider category from the first content providerhomepage; and displaying the first content based on performing thecontent provider search.
 2. A method as recited in claim 1 furthercomprising associating the global guide category with a linear content.3. A method as recited in claim 2 further comprising displaying thelinear content in response to performing a global search.
 4. A method asrecited in claim 1 further comprising associating the global guidecategory to a program object.
 5. A method as recited in claim 1 furthercomprising associating the first content provider category with a firstbroadband category object.
 6. A method as recited in claim 5 furthercomprising receiving content having a second provider category, andchanging the first broadband category object based on the secondprovider category.
 7. A method as recited in claim 5 further comprisingremoving the first content provider content category from the firstbroadband category object when a program window expires and no othercontent has the first provider content category.
 8. A method as recitedin claim 1 wherein displaying comprises displaying on a displayassociated with a set top box.
 9. A method as recited in claim 1 whereindisplaying comprises displaying on a display associated with a satellitetelevision set top box.
 10. A method as recited in claim 1 whereindisplaying comprises displaying on a display associated with a mobileuser device.
 11. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein displayingcomprises displaying on a display associated with a fixed user device.12. A method as recited in claim 1 further comprising: generating aselection corresponding to the first content; communicating a materialidentification associated with the selection to a content processingsystem; and communicating the programming content corresponding to theselection to the user device.
 13. A method as recited in claim 12wherein communicating the programming content comprises communicatingthe content through a satellite.
 14. A method as recited in claim 12wherein communicating the programming content comprises communicatingthe programming content through a broadband communication system.
 15. Amethod as recited in claim 12 wherein communicating the programmingcontent comprises communicating the programming content through aterrestrial system.
 16. A method as recited in claim 12 whereincommunicating a material identification comprises communicating thematerial identification through a broadband communication system.
 17. Amethod as recited in claim 12 wherein communicating a materialidentification comprises communicating the material identificationthrough a terrestrial system.
 18. A method as recited in claim 1 furthercomprising selecting a linear title and tuning the user device to thelinear table in response to selecting.
 19. A system comprising: a userdevice; a display associated with the user device; a guide systemreceiving a content provider category for a first content that isassigned by a first content provider of a plurality of contentproviders, said first content provider category comprises firstprogramming content provided by the first content provider or a titleassociated with the first programming content that will be provided bythe first content provider, said guide system receiving a contentprovider category for a second content that is assigned by a secondcontent provider of a plurality of content providers, said secondcontent provider category comprises second programming content providedby the second content provider or a title associated with the secondprogramming content that will be provided by the second contentprovider, said guide system forming a broadband home object comprisinghomepage data and a homepage template, said guide system forming a firstbroadband category object comprising a first plurality of contentprovider content category label definitions to be used to populate thehomepage template, said first broadband category object different thanthe broadband home object, said guide system forming a second broadbandcategory object comprising a second plurality of content providercontent category label definitions to be used to populate the homepagetemplate, said second broadband category object different than thebroadband home object, said guide system forming a category systemobject comprising a plurality of global guide categories different thanthe first or second plurality of content provider content category labeldefinitions communicating the broadband home object, the category systemobject and the broadband category object to a user device, said guidesystem receiving a global guide category different than the contentprovider category for the first content; and a communication networkcommunicating the content provider category and the global guidecategory to the user device; said user device displaying a first contentprovider homepage at the user device based on the broadband home objectand the first broadband category object for only a first contentprovider of the plurality of content providers, said user devicedisplaying a second content provider homepage at the user device basedon the broadband home object and the second broadband category objectfor only a second content provider of the plurality of contentproviders, performing a global search and displaying on the display thefirst content from the first content provider and a plurality of contentcorresponding to the plurality of content providers other than the firstcontent provider based on the global guide category, and said userdevice performing a content provider search and displaying on thedisplay a provider homepage with the first content displayed under thecontent provider category.
 20. A system as recited in claim 19 whereinthe user device comprises a set top box.
 21. A system as recited inclaim 19 wherein the user device comprises a satellite television settop box.
 22. A system as recited in claim 19 wherein the user devicecomprises a mobile user device.
 23. A system as recited in claim 19wherein the user device comprises a fixed user device.
 24. A system asrecited in claim 19 wherein the communication network comprises abroadband network.
 25. A system as recited in claim 19 wherein thecommunication network comprises a satellite.
 26. A system as recited inclaim 19 wherein the communication network comprises a terrestrialnetwork.
 27. A system as recited in claim 19 wherein the user devicegenerates a selection corresponding to the first programming content andcommunicates a material identification associated with the selection toa content processing system; wherein the content processing systemcommunicates the first programming content corresponding to theselection to the user device.
 28. A system as recited in claim 27further comprising a satellite communicating the first programmingcontent.
 29. A system as recited in claim 27 further comprising abroadband communication system communicating the first programmingcontent.
 30. A system as recited in claim 27 further comprising aterrestrial system communicating the first programming content.
 31. Asystem as recited in claim 27 further comprising a broadbandcommunication system communicating the material identification.
 32. Asystem as recited in claim 27 further comprising a terrestrialcommunication system communicating the material identification.
 33. Asystem as recited in claim 19 wherein a content processing systemassociates the global category to a program object.
 34. A system asrecited in claim 19 wherein a content processing system associates thecontent provider category to a broadband category object.